REPUBLICAN  BULLETIN  No 


Issued  by  the  Young  Men’s  Republican  Association  of  the  Eastern 
District  of  Brooklyn,  at  their  Headquarters,  in  the  Odeon, 
Monday  Evening,  August  25th,  1856.  ■* 


CHAUNCEY  SHAFFER,  ESQ., 

A  PROMINENT  MEMBER  OF  THE  AMERICAN  PARTY, 

supports 

JOHN  C.  FREMONT, 

As  Candidate  for  the  office  of  President  of  the^Un-fted  States, 

AND  GIVES  HIS  REASONS  FOR  SO  DOING  IN  THE  FOLLOWING 

LETTER: 

Saratoga  Springs,  Thursday,  Aug.  14,  1856. 

T.  Dunn,  Esq. — My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  received,  by  way  of  New- York  city,  your 
note  of  tho  9th  inst.,  inclosing  the  following  extract  from  the  Ithaca  Citizen ,  to  wit : — 

“  Coming  Back. — Chauncf.y  Shaffer,  who  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  bolters  from  the 
Philadelphia  Convention,  and  who  has  been  stumping  in  the  river  counties  in  this  State  at  the  Fre¬ 
mont  meetings,  hss  returned  to  the  American  party,  and  to  the  hearty  support  of  Fillmore  and 
Donelson.  Mr.  Shaffer  is  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  was  District  Attorney  of  New-York  city. 
He  belongs  to  the  Methodist  Church,  and  his  recent  conviction  that  Mr.  Fremont  is  a  Roman 
Catholic,  is  the  reason  why  he  withdraws  his  support  from  the  Republicans.  He  has  candidly 
examined  all  the  evidence,  for  and  against,  which  has  appeared,  and  has  looked  closely  into  the 
statements  of  Fullmer,  and  the  opposition  against  them,  and  declares  that  the  evidence  in  favor  of 
his  being  a  Papist  is  conclusive,  for  which  reason  he  cannot  support  him,” 

You  assure  me  that  the  above  is  producing  an  impression  in  your  region,  and  desire 
me  to  inform  you  whether  it  is  true  or  not.  I  answer  that  it  is  a  sheer  fabrication — a 
“  Roorback.”  That  no  further  mischief  may  occur  from  the  circulation  of  that  article, 
I  will  set  the  matter  of  my  preference  of  candidates  right  at  once. 

In  the  first  place,  I  was  not  a  prominent  or  other  ‘‘bolter  from  the  Philadelphia 
American  Convention.”  I  was  not  a  delegate  to  that  Convention.  There  were  reasons 
why  I  should  not  be  a  delegate.  I  had  had  too  much  to  do  with  undoing  the  work 
of  a  previous  Council  in  Philadelphia  assembled ;  too  much  to  do  against  the  slave  pro¬ 
pagandists  at  Binghamton  last  A  ugust ;  and  was  too  little  inclined  to  see  American¬ 
ism  sold  out,  to  be  considered  a  safe  man  to  go  to  Philadelphia. 

I  stayed  at  home  against  my  will,  I  admit.  Moreover,  that  Convention  was  not  an 
“American  Convention.” 

As  far  as  the  North  was  concerned ,  it  was  a  Silver  Gray  Whig  Convention;  as  far  as 
the  South  ivas  concerned ,  it  was  a  Convention  for  the  propagation  of  human  slavery :  and 
She  result  was  the  nomination  of  two  men ,  one  of  whom  glories  in  being  the  owner  of  a 
.hundred  slaves ,  and  the  other ,  (Mr.  Fillmore,)  in  being  a  most  subservient  instrument  of 
the  Slave  power ,  as  is  manifestly  proved  by  his  course  while  acting  as  President  of  the 
United  States ;  also ,  by  his  speeches  made  during  his  Southern  tour ,  in  pursuit  of  a  re- 


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nomination ,  as  well  as  by  Ms  nullification  speeches  at  Albany  and  elsewhere ,  on  his  return 
from  his  visit  to  the  Pope. 

Hence,  the  leading  Silver  Gray  newspapers  of  the  North  (including  the  New-York 
Express )  claim  Mr.  Fillmore  as  the  regular  Whig  nominee  for  the  Presidency — while 
the  South  claim  him  as  the  champion  of  Southern  Rights,  (meaning  the  extension  of  hu¬ 
man  slavery  by  the  action  of  the  General  Government;)  while  Mr.  Fillmore,  to  justify 
the  claims  of  the  South,  in  effect,  says:  “Elect  me,  or  the  South,  that  loves  me  so  well, 
shall  not  remain  in  the  Union.” 

As  an  American ,  I  am  not  bound  by  the  action  of  that  Convention;  rather,  let  me 
say,  I  cannot  submit  to  be  bound  by  its  action,  any  more  than  can  my  brethren  of 
Massachusetts,  of  Connecticut,  and  of  every  New  England  State.  The  American  Party 
of  Massachusetts,  in  solemn  Council  assembled,  has  declared  for  Mr.  Fremont,  and 
nominated  electors  favorable  to  his  election  ;  and  so  has  the  State  of  Connecticut  ;  and 
so  will  all  New  England  do,  (for  New  England  has  a  history;)  and  so  will  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Party  of  this  State  act — excepting  always  a  portion  of  the  Silver  Gray  portion  of 
that  party.  The  latter  portion  will  stand  by  Mr.  Fillmore,  notwithstanding  he  “has 
adopted  the  leading  principles  of  that  platform.”  the  seventh  section  of  which  commits 
the  American  Party  to  Slavery  Extension  under  the  guise  of  Squatter  Sovereignty  ; 
because  this  “ portion  of  a  portion1'1  came  into  the  order  with  the  design  of  retrieving  the 
fallen  fortunes  of  Mr.  Fillmore,  as  is  proved  by  the  attempted  ostracism  of  the  liberal- 
minded  men  of  the  order,  and  by  the  threats,  preceding  and  accompanying  the  Phila- 
ladelphia  Convention,  that  in  the  event  of  George  Law’s  receiving  the  nomination  for 
the  Presidency,  they,  with  the  Whig  Party,  proper,  would  nominate  an  out  and  out 
American  Whig,  (meaning  Mr.  Fillmore,  I  presume,)  and  also  by  letters  now  in  exist¬ 
ence,  and  which,  I  hope,  will  yet  be  published. 

Ihave  not  “  returned  to  the  hearty  support  of  Fillmore  and  Doxelson,”  nor  will  I  do 
any  act  or  thing  tending  to  sanction  the  outrages  of  Pro- Slavery ,  Nullification  Border- 
Pvffians.  who — in  addition  to  their  outrages  in  Missouri  and  Kansas,  of  themselves  suffi¬ 
cient  to  turn  the  cheek  of  darkness  pale — have ,  from  the  year  1852  until  now,  wrested  the 
high  powers  of  the  nation  from  their  legitimate  purpose ,  to  the  strengthening  of  the  Slave 
oligarchy. 

There  are  other  objections  to  my  supporting  Mr.  Fillmore,  founded  upon  the  fact, 
stated  by  the  Citizen,  that  I  belong  to  the  Methodist  Church. 

That  Church  owes' Slavery  no  particular  good-will ;  for  Slavery  has  rent  that  Church 
in  twain  ;  has  imprisoned  women  for  teaching  the  Slave  to  read  the  Bible,  and  has 
soug’ht  in  every  way  to  destroy  that  Church,  as  being  the  opponent  of  Slavery  most  to 
be  feared.  Let  facts  speak.  Last  winter,  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Church,  in 
Missouri,  was  arrested  while  in  the  pulpit,  by  a  gang  of  men,  (who,  if  they  live,  will 
probably  vote  for  Mr.  Fillmore,)  who  wantonly  and  falsely  charged  him  with  horse 
stealing ;  and  without  allowing  him  time  to  put  on  his  overcoat,  mounted  him  on  a 
horse,  drove  him  some  seventeen  miles,  (the  weather  being  intensely  cold,)  threw  him 
into  a  cheerless  room,  without  fire,  there  left  him  to  die,  and  there  he  died! 

My  informant  is  a  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  spoke  of  his  own  knowledge. 

Another  instance  :  Rev.  Mr.  Wiley,  and  about  thirty  other  ministers  of  the  Metho¬ 
dist  Church,  have  been  assaulted  in  their  churches,  and  driven  from  place  to  place,  like 
beasts  of  prey  ;  their  lives  being  every  day  in  imminent  peril. 

Another  instance :  In  Kansas,  a  Methodist  minister  was  whipped,  tarred  and  fea¬ 
thered,  tied  to  a  log  and  set  afloat  on  the  Missouri  River. 

Another  instance:  Yery  recently  a  Methodist  minister  in  Missouri,  while  preaching, 
was  dragged  from  his  pulpit,  and  tarred  and  feathered ;  while  an  old  Methodist  layman, 
for  the  crime  of  expostulation  against  such  conduct,  was  shot:  and  it  is  a  notorious  fact, 
and  one  which  will  not  admit  of  controversy,  that  a  minister  of  my  church  cannot  preach 
the  gospel  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  or  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  but  at  the  peril  of  his 
life !  and  yet  I  find  no  reproof  of  these  outrages  either  in  the  Philadelphia  Platform  or 
in  any  of  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Fillmore. 

As  to  my  having  examined  “  all  the  evidence”  in  relation  to  Mr.  Fremont’s  religious 
creed,  I  have  to  say,  that  I  have  examined  all  the  evidence,  including  Alderman  Full¬ 
mer’s  statement,  and  have  exhausted  the  means  of  information  within  my  reach,  and 
have  arrived  at  the  following  conclusions : 


Xi.o  I 

S k  1 1- 


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1st.  That  Mr.  Fremont's  father  was  a  French  Huguenot,  and  liis  mother  an  Ameri¬ 
can  Protestant  lady. 

2d.  That  Col.  Fremont  was  born  a  Protestant,  baptized  a  Protestant,  married  a  Pro¬ 
testant  lady,  has  had  his  children  baptized  by  a  Protestant  clergyman ;  educates  them 
in  the  Protestant  faith,  while  he  is  a  Protestant  in  practice  in  all  the  relations  of  life. 

I  admit  that  he  was  married  by  a  Catholic  clergyman  under  circumstances  peculiar  to 
himself  and  with  which  the  public  is  already  acquainted. 

3d.  I  conclude  that  Alderman  Fullmer’s  statement  is  altogether  untrue.  Col.  Fre¬ 
mont  was  not  in  Washington  at  the  time  Fullmer  says  he  conversed  with  him,  nor 
within  several  months  of  that  time.  He  was  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien,  or  on  the  Steamer  George  Law,  from  Aspinwall  to  Hew- York  city,  at  the  time 
fixed  by  Fullmer. 

I  should  add  that  upon  CoL  Fremont’s  arrival  in  New-York  city  he  sailed  to  Europe 
without  visiting  Washington  at  all,  and  that  he  remained  in  Europe  more  than  a  year. 

I  should  further  add,  that  the  conviction  in  my  mind  that  Alderman  Fullmer  has 
borne  false  witness  against  his  neighbor,  is  strengthened  by  the  contradictory  statements 
that  I  am  credibly  informed  he  has  made  concerning  this  pretended  conversation,  and  by 
the  further  fact  that  amongst  his  immediate  neighbors  his  statement  is  not  believed. 

But  if  I  should  refuse  to  vote  for  Mr.  Fremont,  because  of  his  being  a  Roman  Ca¬ 
tholic,  I  could  not  vote  for  Mr.  Fillmore;  and  for  the  very  reason  that  the  Convention 
which  nominated  Mr.  Fillmore  was  controlled  by  Roman  Catholics  as  well  as  by  Sla¬ 
very  propagandists.  This  is  the  proof : 

Two  sets  of  delegates  appeared  from  the  State  of  Louisiana — one  Protestant  and  the 
other  Roman  Catholic — both  demanding  admission.  The  Roman  Catholic  delegation 
was  received,  and  the  Protestant  delegation  was  rejected. 

The  reason,  I  understand,  assigned  for  this  singular  admission  and  rejection  was, 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  delegation  did  not  acknowledge  the  temporal  supremacy  of 
the  Pope — but,  did  the  Protestant  delegation  acknowledge  the  temporal  supremacy  of 
the  Pope  ? 

There  are  other  objections  to  my  supporting  Mr.  Fillmore,  and  as  an  American,  and 
a  man  who,  at  the  commencement  of  liis  political  life,  resolutely  set  his  face  against  the 
further  aggressions  of  the  Slave  power,  I  cannot  be  induced  by  any  special  pleading,  or 
hj  any  u  Roorbacks  ”  that  may  be  hatched  in  the  hot-bed  of  political  zeal,  to  vote  for 
any  other  man  for  President  than  Col.  Fremont ,  inasmuch  as  I  see  no  other  way  of  put¬ 
ting  an  end  to  the  terrible  aggressions  of  the  Slave  power. 

I  BELIEVE  UPON  THE  ELECTION  OR  DEFEAT  OF  COL.  FREMONT  WILL 
DEPEND  THE  QUESTIONS,  WHETHER  OR  NOT  THE  BLACK  COLUMN  OF 
SLAVERY  WILL  BE  PUSHED  TO  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN  ?— WHETHER  OR 
NOT  THE  AFRICAN  SLAVE  TRADE,  THE  SUM  OF  ALL  WICKEDNESS, 
WILL  BE  REVIVED?— AND  WHETHER  OR  NOT  PRACTICAL  SLAVERY 
SHALL  BE  FORCED  UPON  THE  FREE  STATES  UNDER  THE  DECISION  OF 
FEDERAL  JUDGES,  APPOINTED,  AS  MR.  FILLMORE  SOUGHT  TO  APPOINT 
AND  DID  APPOINT  SOME  OF  HIS  JUDGES?— AND,  IN  SHORT,  WHETHER 
THIS  COUNTRY  SHALL  HAVE  A  CONSTITUTIONAL  GOVERNMENT  FOR 
THE  WHOLE  COUNTRY,  OR  AN  UNCONSTITUTIONAL  GOVERNMENT  FOR 
THE  SLAVE  OLIGARCHY  ?— WHETHER  OR  NOT  WE  SHALL  RECOVER 
OUR  LOST  NATIONAL  HONOR,  AND  GO  ON  IN  PEACEFUL  PROGRESS  TO 
THE  CLIMAX  OF  HUMAN  GREATNESS  ?— OR,  WHETHER  WE  SHALL  BE 
DESTROYED  BY  THE  AGGRESSIVE  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SLAVE  POWER? 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHAUNCEY  SHAFFER. 


ItJEAO  A  X  (IRCrLATIk 


Nesbitt  &  Co.,  Printers  and  Stationers,  cor.  Tearl  and  Pine  sts.,  N.  Y. 


